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Wait for Sigmoidoscopy plus the internet equals bad Anxiety

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davidk74
davidk74

Just wanted to pass my story along. Hopfully it will help somone anxious about a Sigmoidoscopy or Colonoscopy they may have scheduled. It should also be a lesson about googleing symtoms. IM 43, my story starts about 4 months before i had my Sigmoidoscopy scheduled, My tail bone suddenly started hurting. I assumed it was caused by my home office chair that had recently broken. At first I simply ignored the pain assuming it would eventually resolve on its own. After a few months or so the pain had not gone away. It was hard to tell where the pain was actually coming from. I started to think it was originating from my Colon. A few weeks later after a bm i noticed a red stripe on my stool. This freaked me out so I made a DR's appointment. My Dr did a DRE and found nothing. He wondered if the blood and back pain were related. He gave me a number to call for a Sigmoidoscopy. I called them and they gave me a date 6 weeks later. At this point I freaked out and started googleing my symtoms. It didnt take long to find people in forums with my symtoms who had Rectal / colon cancer. I went in to full melt down mode. I stopped eating and spent my time franticly googleing my symtoms trying to find reassurance somewhere. I harrased my health care provider enough they finally gave me an earlier date (basicly 2 weeks from my doctors appointment). I did the prep and went in for what I thought would be bad news. I was not sedated and the Sigmoidoscopy really was not that bad.  The results? Nothing, no cancer, no polyp no nothing. In the end, I lost countless hours of sleep and 15 lbs from not eating.

The internet is a very dangerous place for an anxious mind. Anyhoo that's my story. I hope it helps someone cope with their agonizing wait for a sigmoidoscopy / colonoscopy. 

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • TheToad
    TheToad davidk74

    Posted

    I agree completely! I am a very bad Googler and must be trying the patience of my Dr etc. I am going to see a councellor next week. The weird thing is I advise others not to Google, but I still do it myself. sad

    • marlene88784
      marlene88784 TheToad

      Posted

      John

      Not a good excuse, but some of us... "like me" are much more prone to anxiety and a run away 'imagination.' I hope you get a great counselor, I've certainly realized that like 'any professional' some are much better than others.

      Good luck

    • TheToad
      TheToad marlene88784

      Posted

      Thanks Marlene. I hope so too! I also have been talking to an organisation here called Cancer Connect, who have support people who have had bowel cancer and will listen and chat. My conversation was well over half an hour and very useful. She was and is a complete stranger. The thing that annoys me is that every test, scan etc I have had over the 40 months have been normal, yet I still am anxious. So maybe this councellor might have some ways to stop it. I'll let you know. 

  • marlene88784
    marlene88784 davidk74

    Posted

    Thank you David! You are so right... I think your post will be helpful to many people. Those forums are somewhat helpful, but between those & google... we can really do a number on ourselves.

    Great post!

  • craig84609
    craig84609 davidk74

    Posted

    Blood is never a normal thing to see, but it doesn't have to always be cancer. You may have a hemoroid that has a clot in it. They are painful as heck and bleed a lot when you have a hard BM. They tend to be missed during the Sigmoid test you had. They need to use a Anuscope to check the Anus for the bleeding roids. It get's a better look at the canal leading into the rectum. I have IBD and had a sigmoid done as a young man and I found it to be really painful and that was due to the air they use to distend the colon. Had they taken biopsies all those years ago they would have found out I had IBD, but they didn't check. So many years later I had a major flare up that landed me in the hospital and home from work for a month. I wouldn't recommend this test to anyone, I would get a colonoscopy done instead as it checks the entire length of the colon and they sedate you so you don't feel it. Most people that have a normal colon don't have an issue with this test, but those with IBD and IBS usually can't handle the test and complain of pain. I would have gone to a colorectal surgeon, so they can find and fix the roid or really I think they should be called asteroids. Sorry, I couldn't resist, but all kidding aside they are really painful and bleed a lot. I have one that I am going to have removed by rubber banding it. They put a tight band around it and it dies, then falls off. Really good way to get rid of them. I hope you find what was bothering you and you feel better. I would just stay away from those medical sites, they just tend to scare people.

  • debbiermn
    debbiermn davidk74

    Posted

    Glad you're ok. I agree with your sentiments. I'm going for my second colonoscopy today to have the polyp removed. I will let you know how it goes

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